When my kids were young, I had the good fortune to have multiple friends that were Speech and Language Pathologists. So any time I had a question or concern about my kiddo's language development, I'd turn to them for assistance, reassurance or strategies.

I realize not everyone has this dynamic, so in this week's episode I've invited Sharon Soliday, a dear friend of mine (and Speech and Language Pathologist), to join me to discuss all things speech and language.

But what about imparting some of that financial literacy to your kiddos?

As far as Tim Ranzetta is concerned, having those conversations early and often is key to ensuring your kids have a firm financial foundation to avoid costly spending pitfalls and proactively manage their own finances.

On this episode, Tim and I discuss all things personal finance, from saving for college (and related expectations) to opening a checking account. How to teach responsible credit card use (and why Tim recommends it!) to really understanding financial contracts. He’ll even explain how you can “lend” your good credit to your kids if you’re a long-term credit card holder.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with cooking and meal planning. I enjoy cooking and feeding my family healthy meals, but it turns out this is something you have to do every. single. day! I get burnt out easily. AND, as you might have noticed, food is EXPENSIVE and it just seems to be getting more so. For me, it’s overwhelming to manage the logistics as well as the finances of all this eating.

My guest today happens to be a master at both meal planning AND shopping on a budget. Her name is Erin Chase and she is SO good at this, that she started what is now a successful blog called 5DollarDinners.com. Erin is crazy good at pulling together nutritious meals featuring real food and putting them together for you in meal plans you can download.

I downloaded Erin’s 20 meals for $150 from Costco and my family loved, loved, loved the lemon pepper chicken (haven't made the rest yet!). Do check it out.

So if you’re finding yourself pressed for time, money or both when it comes to meal planning and preparation, this episode is for YOU.

When you sit down to do your finances, does your heart fill with dread and loathing?

Yeah…me too.

My guest in this episode is CreativeMoney.biz’s Mindy Crary and she thinks all of this finance stuff is FUN (crazy, right?) and joins me to share her approach to personal finance. Tune in to this episode to hear Mindy’s tips on the best online spending tools, how and where to start cutting back on things you probably won’t miss and ways to prioritize spending plans without going overboard.

Mindy takes a lighthearted approach to this stuff and really hones in on the psychology behind why we act and spend the way we do…and how to rein ourselves in without feeling deprived. So tune in to this episode and share your own tips on the Lifehacks Facebook page or on Twitter.

Links & Notes

Last month my family and I spent a week in Utah. Several of those days we volunteered at the largest no-kill animal shelter in the country - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

This experience was a fantastic one for the entire family as you’ll hear on today’s episode. We worked with bunnies, parrots, puppies, cats and horses. You’ll hear which ones were winners and my family’s advice on volunteering at Best Friends (hint: do it!).

This episode is a bit different than most so if this is your first time tuning in, I hope you enjoy!